People won’t buy GMA’s SONA

July 19, 2008

An activist umbrella group yesterday said President Arroyo will have a hard time “selling” her State of the Nation Address (Sona) to a people reeling from an economic crisis.

“We doubt if her Sona speech could restore public confidence in her administration. The people have consistently rejected her. All the signs indicate that she has to go. She had better step down for the good of the nation,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr., in a statement, stressed.

The group also assailed Malacañang for claiming that government would rather do what is right, than what is popular.

“What Malacañang is actually saying is that they are right and everyone else is wrong. They are right on the VAT (value added tax) and everyone else is wrong in asking for its removal. They’re saying they are right on oil deregulation and everyone else is wrong to ask for price regulation,” Reyes noted.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier had told members, officers and governors of the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) that she is very confident the Philippines will overcome the current global food and fuel crisis.

According to a Palace statement, the Chief Executive’s Sona would center on economy food and fuel woes.

“There is a challenge to the world,” Mrs. Arroyo stressed, adding “the Philippines has prepared itself for that challenge. We have a plan to address it. At the same time, we are not losing track of our transformation of our economy. The resources we have husbanded can meet the challenges and allow us to stay on track. The Philippines offers the best value for investments.”

Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippines has lower inflation rate than Indonesia and Vietnam.

“There has been no negative when other developing economies were experiencing recessions. Every President (before me) experienced negative growth at the end of his or her term,” she stressed.

Noting the huge contribution of overseas Filipino workers, the President said “although our GDP (gross domestic product) is growing at 5.2 percent, our GNP (gross national product) is 7 percent” (because of the OFW remittances).

She said she won’t remove the 12 percent value added tax. With the global challenge of unstoppable food and oil prices, her economic advicers have suggested that the country needs more than ever the revenues from the VAT on oil and petroleum products.

The President said she would rather give cash and subsidies for the poor, including P4 billion for the eight million lifeline electricity consumers, those who consume less than 100 kwh a month.

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